Half to john stark



(No Model.)

P. P. RIPLEY. STEM WINDING AND SETTING MECHANISM. No. 455,025. PatentedJune. 30, 1891.

mesa/s. Ind/n22: 9Zp&% W l reazem'ekz 15013,

m: mums PETERS co., wow-mum, wAsmusToN, u, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK P. RIPLEY, OF \VALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALFTO JOHN STARK, OF SAME PLACE.

STEM WINDING AND SETTING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,025, dated June 30,1891. Application filed September 11, 1890. Serial No. 364,643. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it 71mg concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK 1. RIPLEY, of lValtham, county ofMiddlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve- 5 ment inlVatch Vinding and Setting Mechanism, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters and figures on the drawings representinglike parts.

IO This invention relates to mechanism for windingand settingthemovements of watches, and has for its object to provide simple andeffective mechanism of novel construction, as will be described, whichmay be applied to [5 any desired class or style of watch.

My invention is more particularly applicable to stem-Winding watches asnow commonly constructed, inasmuch as it can readily be applied withoutmaterial change of parts.

In accordance with this invention the winding shaft or arbor, upon whichis mounted the usual winding-gear and the clutch, adapted to be engagedwith and disengaged from said winding-gear, is made hollow-that is, itis 2 5 provided with a longitudinal bore or hole through it, in which isplaced a small rod or bar, which is connected with and adapted to movethe clutch-sleeve.

The means herein shown for connecting the go clutch-sleeve with itsactuating rod or bar consists of a shifting-bar connected with theclutch-sleeve and a lever arranged to act on said shifting-bar, saidlever in turn being acted upon by the actuating rod or bar.

My invention therefore consists in the combination, with a hollow barand winding gear or pinion on it and a clutch-sleeve, of an actuatingrod or bar contained in the hollow winding-shaft and connected with theclutch 4o sleeve; also, in the combination, with a winding-bar havingmounted upon it a winding gear or pinion and a clutch-sleeve, of a shit"tin gbar for said clutch-sleeve, and a lever to act on said bar, and anactuating rod or bar to act on said lever.

Other features of my invention will be pointed out in the claims at theend of this specification.

Figure 1 is a top or plan view of a sufficient 5 portion of a watchprovided with my improved mechanism to enable my invention to beunderstood, the parts being in position to wind the watch; Fig. 2, alongitudinal section on the line or 1, Fig. l, and Fig. 3 a detail to bereferred to. Fig. l is a top or plan view 5 5 of a portion of a watchprovided with my improved mechanism, the parts being in position to setthehands. Fig.5 is a longitudinal section on the line a at, Fig. 4c, theparts being in position to set the hands.

The plate A has secured to it near its circumference an upright a,through which is extended the winding bar or shaft a, made hollow andprovided substantially near its center with an annular collar a on oneside 6 5 of which the said bar for a portion of its length is maderound, as at 2, and on the other side of the collar the said bar is madesquare or of other than round shape, as at The winding-bar a has mountedon its round portion 2 a winding gear or pinion a", herein shown asbeveled, the said pinion meshing into a bevel gear or pinion a", formingpart of the winding mechanism, which is and may be of any usual orwell-known con- 7 5 struction common to watches. The windingshaft a hasmounted on its square portion 3 a clutcl1sloeve a provided, as shown,with an annular groove a" on its periphery. The clutch-sleeve a isprovided at its front end with teeth a to engage with a gear (l mountsed on a stud d, the gear a forming part of the train of gears forsetting the hands, which train of gears may be of any usual or wellknownconstruction, it being herein represented as a pinion a secured to thegeara and a gear not shown, which may be the minute-wheel in mesh withthe pinion d".

The hollow winding-shaft a has extended through it an actuating-rod Z)for the clutch o mechanism, the said rod having its inner end extendedthrough a bearing lug or uprightb on a plate U, secured, as by screw I),to a plate or bar I), forming part of the framework of the watch.Theinner end of the rod 5 Z), as herein shown, engages the arm Zr of abell-crank lever, pivoted as at Z2 and having its other arm preferablymade curved at its outer end, the said curved end preferably bearingagainst a curved finger I) on a cln 011- shifting bar I), pivoted as atI), the end of the said bar being fitted into the annular groove a inthe clutch. The shifting-bar U is preferably made of steel and possessessufficient spring action to normally move the clutch a toward the leftin Fig. 1 to engage the teeth a on the clutch with the gear a Thewinding shaft to beyond the rounded portion 2 is preferably made squareor of other than round shape to receive the usual thumb piece or sleeve,(not shown,) by which the said shaft is rotated to set the hands or windthe watch, according to the position of the said sleeve on thewinding-shaft. As shown in Fig. 1, the actuating-rod b is in its normalor innermost position, into which it is pushed by the head of thethumbpiece or sleeve (not shown) when the latter is pushed in on thewinding-shaft.

The actuating-rod Z) is provided, as herein shown, with a collar 0 nearits inner end, which abuts against the bearing upright b and limits theinward movement of the said. controlling-rod, and thereby prevents thebell-crank lever from being turned sufficiently far to press upon theshifting-bar with sufficient force to break the same, the clutch at suchtime being in engagement with the winding-pinion a thus making the samefast on the winding-shaft, so that when the said shaft is rotated in theproper direction the gear a" of the time movement will be revolved andthe watch wound up. If it is desired to set the hands of the watch, thesleeve or thumb, piece (not shown) is drawn out on the winding-shaft,thereby relieving the pressure upon the controlling-rod and permittingthe shifting-bar by its spring action to move toward the left in Fig. 1and slide the clutch on the winding-shaft until the teeth a on theclutch mesh with the teeth of the gear a the collar 0 then abuttingagainst the inner end of the winding shaft or stem, limiting the outwardmovement of the controlling-rod. As the clutch is moved toward the leftin Fig. 1, the finger 1) turns the bell-crank lever and moves thecontrolling-rod b outward or to the right in Fi 1 into its position, asshown in Fig. 4:. The clutch a is now removed from the bevelpinion a andthe latter is free to turn loosely on the round portion 2 of thewinding-shaft. With the teeth a on the clutch in engagement with thegear a the hands of the watch may be set by turning the winding-shaft.

My improved mechanism may be applied to any of the differentstyles ofwatches now commonly constructed, and the ordinary stem-winding watches,having what is known as a lever-setting mechanism, may readily bechanged by boring the winding-stem and inserting therethrough thecontrolling-rod and providing the lever at the inner end of the rod toact on the shifting-bar.

I have herein shown a spiral spring surrounding the winding-stem a andinterposed between the bevel-pinion a and the annular shoulder a on thesaid winding-stein, the said spring acting to keep-the bevel-pinionalways in its proper position against the upright a, as shown.

\Vhile I have herein shown the clutch-sleeve as connected with theactuating rod or bar 11 by means of a shifting bar and level-,1 do notdesire to limit my invention to any particular means for connecting theclutch-sleeve to or adapting it to be operated by the actuating rod orbar.

I claim- 1. In a watch winding and setting movement, the combination,with a hollow windin g shaft or stem having mounted on it a winding gearor pinion, and a clutch-sleeve, of an actuating-bar extended throughsaid hollow winding shaft or stem, a lever acted upon by said bar, and aclutch-shifting bar contacting with said lever to normally press thecontrolling-rod outward, to operate substantially as described.

'2. In a watch winding and setting movement, the combination, with ahollow winding shaft or stem having mounted on it awinding gear orpinion, and a clutch-sleeve, of an actuating-bar extended through saidhollow winding shaft or stem and provided with a collar to limit itsmovement in both directions, a lever acted upon by said rod, and aspring-acting clutch-shifting bar, to operate substantially asdescribed.

In a watch winding and setting movement, the combination, with a hollowwinding shaft or stem provided with a round portion and a polygonalportion, a winding gear or pinion loose on said round portion, and aclutchsleeve on said polygonal portion, a spring-acting shifting -bar toengage said clutch-sleeve, and a lever to act on said shifting-bar, ofan actuatin grod extended through said hollow winding-stem and through abearing, and a collar on the inner end of said rod to abut against thesaid bearing and limit the inward movement of the controlling-rod,substantially as described.

4:. In a watch winding and setting movement, the combination, with ahollow winding shaft or stem having an annular shoulder, a winding gearor pinion, and a clutcl1-sleeve mounted on said stem, of anactuating-rod extended through said hollow winding-stem, a springencircling said stem between said winding-gear and annular shoulder, alever acted upon by said rod, and a spring-acting clutch-shifting bar,to operate substantially as described.

5. In a watch winding and setting movement, the combination, with awinding shaft or stem having mounted on it a winding gear or pinion anda clutch-sleeve, a shifting-bar for said clutch, and a lever to act onsaid shifting-bar, of an actuating-bar to act on said lever,substantially as described.

(5. In a watch winding and setting movement, a hollow winding shaft orstem having mounted on it a winding gear 01' pinion, and name to thisspecification in the presence of a clutch-sleeve, combined with anactuating two subscribing witnesses.

' rod 01' bar contained within said hollow winding shaft or stem andconnected with and FREDERICK P. RIPLEY.

5 adapted to operate the clutch-sleeve, substan- Witnesses:

tially as described. W ILLIAM H. JOHNSON,

In testimony whereof I have signed my] JOHN A. TOLMAN.

